"The finds from the broch include
grain-rubbers and rotary querns and fragments of a large jar of coarse,
unglazed pottery from one of the internal, secondary structures. This has
been reconstructed and is now in the National Museum of Antiquities of
Scotland (NMAS), as are the finds from the excavation of the broch by Sir
Francis Tress Barry. Anderson notes the remains of the foundations of an
oblong, rectangular building within a few yards of the broch. This has
been 45ft long by 24ft broad with dry-built walls about 4ft thick. This
building seems to compare with the houses of the Viking settlement at
Freswick (ND36NE 4), although as Childe points out, these were probably
the fore-runners of the 'black-house type', in which case the building
might simply be one of these."

Since the excavation by Sir Francis Tres
Barry there have been other reports made in 1965, 1981, 1982 and more
recently in 2000 by A Heald and A Jackson. A Heald is the same Dr A
Heald excavating with team in July 2006. A smaller excavation is
taking place at Harbour Broch , Keiss and small trench at Roadside Broch
Keiss. One of the aims is to see if there is any connections with
all of the brochs in such a small area of countryside.

The Canmore database of RCAHMS contains
references and records relating to archaeological sites all over Scotland

18 July 06
Excavation Of Whitegate & Keiss Harbour Brochs Underway
Whitegate
Broch is being excavated by a team under the leadership of Dr Andy Heald
of the National Museum of Scotland with students from Nottingham
university and local amateur archaeologists. The two brochs at Keiss
harbour are under investigation with the larger dig being concentrated on
the Whitegate broch. The project has the full support of the
Caithness Archaeological Trust.

Open Day - Saturday 22
July 2006The team are inviting members of the public to an open day on Saturday
22 July between 1.00pm and 4.00pm to view the site and hear what they have
discovered to date. Free tours will take place

Already an interesting
feature which they hope to uncover in greater depth is the discovery of
corbelled well in the centre of the broch. Dr Heald hopes to have
some samples dated for comparison with the nearby Keiss Harbour Broch to
assess the possibility of some connection due to their close proximity. If
you would like to see round the excavations on Saturday 22 July head for
Keiss Harbour foreshore